Monday, June 15, 2009

History in the making! Here's what we did yesterday ... we and circa 50,000 other people walked across the new Golden Ears Bridge! This bridge spans the Fraser River, joining Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows and Fort Langley. It was opening day and only pedestrians were allowed on -- what a zoo! Unfortunately, they hadn't planned for the volume of people and actually had to close the bridge down a couple of times, for several minutes, due to over-capacity on the bridge deck. Not for the claustrophobic, that's for sure! At some points, it was wall-to-wall people -- the emergency vehicles had challenges getting through, which was an issue, as one lady went into labour!

Here's a photo of our new neighbour -- a yellow lab puppy named, Sasha. I'm puppy sitting Wednesday - Friday in the a.m., until school's out, as 'mom' is a teacher. I'd forgotten how busy and exhausting puppies are -- if I was even thinking that I might want another dog, this is definitely making me sit back and think again! Although, she is very sweet ...

Look what landed in my flower pot! I couldn't believe how tame it was ... posed for several minutes while I took all the photos I wanted!

I've had a bit of 'start-itis' lately -- this is another 'Hey Teach' from Knitty.com. I made one last summer in Rowan All Season's Cotton and was disappointed with the mega-stretch factor. Also, I think the body section needed to be at least 2" longer and I'm short-waisted! It's since found a new 'home' and I've begun another one in Jo Sharp Desert Aran -- a light lilac, almost grey colour. Very neutral and should go with everything. I came down a size in needle to 4.5 mm to make a denser fabric and I'm doing the body all in one piece this time, to avoid the whole sewing up thing, using markers to separate the fronts and back, plus I'm also knitting on the button band, simultaneously. Talk about lazy, huh?

The LYS had a huge 40% off sale recently, which I noticed as I just happened to be driving by!Picked up some Noro sock yarn with the intention of using it to make scarves. This one is coming along nicely -- an entrelac style, also from Knitty.com -- but the name escapes me just now. I'm making it a little wider than the pattern calls for, as it was too long and skinny for my taste. As there is some wool in this yarn, I tend to knit outside in the shade, when there's a bit of a breeze blowing, to avoid the itchy sneezies -- so far, so good!

Oh yes, and a few more purchases ... All yarn 'Diamond Luxury' merino. The variegated sock yarn is designated for each a male & female BSJ and the two solids in the background for February Baby Sweaters.

Sigh ... Malabrigo Silky yarn ... need I say more? The rich red yarn on the right is also a merino/silk, but from Meribel yarns. I love that they are women run, and that the proceeds help women and children in developing countries. Nothing like paying it forward!

And one more Noro sock yarn, destined for a funky scarf -- so colourful!

Another change in life ... recently my sister and I discovered that we have Celiac Disease -- an intolerance to anything with wheat, barley, or rye in it. It is apparently genetic and 1 in 133 people may have it without even realizing it.

That has meant a drastic change in diet, as we eliminate all of these items, not to mention a lot of searching and reading labels to see where it's 'sneaked in'. You'd be amazed where it lurks! The frustrating thing is that we've likely had it since we were kids, but it apparently is challenging to diagnose.

The average age of diagnosis is 46, which isn't great as a lot of internal damage can take place in that space of time. Thankfully, by eating a gluten-free diet, we should be able to turn around at least some of the symptoms. Eating out is likely going to be a thing of the past, but thankfully, we're both good cooks and enjoy trying new things. Never a dull moment around here!

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Amazing how this reptilian looking blob, suddenly morphs (with a few strategic folds) into a completely reversible, cute little jacket!

My first BSJ (Baby Surprise Jacket) from Elizabeth Zimmerman. I figured that since I was on a roll with the February Baby sweaters, I may as well graduate to the BSJ -- what a lot of garter stitch -- at times, it seemed endless, but quite gratifying once finished.

Yarn: 'Fat sock' from Hello Yarn - can't remember colourway.

A special thank you for the very kind comments you left on my last post ... we are so appreciative of your thoughtfulness. We have amazing friends, family and neighbours who have been so kind and supportive to us over the past few months as we have dealt with so much loss in our immediate family, most recently with our much loved dog, Brinkley. The children from next door came to the fence with tears in their eyes to say how sorry they were and how much they'd miss him and promised to share their new puppy with me, once it arrives. Too sweet! It's been lots of shared tears, hugs and memories ... amazing, really, how one dog touched a family and a neighbourhood in a very special way.

We are healing ... day by day, it gets just that little bit easier on the heart. We are trying to find a new 'normal', as the past 9 years revolved around a dog and although we are finding the house a little too empty, visits from the grandbaby give us joy and we are rediscovering what it is like to just have each other. Not a bad thing, at all!